Disciples Global Network

The Church has been plagued for centuries by prophets, seers, and mystics who claim to possess secret knowledge and new insights into the mysteries of God beyond anything found in the Scriptures, knowledge obtained via visions and dreams, or perhaps by deciphering the Hebrew alphabet or the Jewish calendar. The Bible certainly does speak of God’s “ mysteries ,” His unexpected ways that differ radically from human wisdom, but they were disclosed in His Son twenty centuries ago.

Jesus is the only true Light of the World, and his light shines all the brighter amidst the darkness that tyrannizes the present age. All competing claims are false . “ Life ” is found in the “ Word ” or ‘ Logos ’ (λογος), and this life is the “ Light of men .” The Light is “ shining in the darkness ,” and the darkness “ cannot seize ” or suppress it. This same “ Word ” has become the Living Word of God in Jesus of Nazareth, in whom the glory, salvation, and life of God are manifested for all men to see - (John 1:1).

Jesus is the Word made flesh through whom the glory of God is revealed, the same Word by which God created all things . The  Gospel of John  identifies Jesus as the ‘ Logos ’, the “ Word ” through which God made the Universe. This theme is prominent in the  Gospel of John . It builds on traditional ideas from the Hebrew Bible about how God created the world, especially life through His spoken Word. Jesus of Nazareth is the Living Expression of that creative word.

In  Galatians , the Apostle Paul compares the Mosaic Law to a “ pedagogue ” in its supervision of Israel “ until the seed came .” That “ Seed ” was Jesus. In Greco-Roman society, the “pedagogue” was usually a slave with custodial and disciplinary authority over an underage child until he reached maturity. The minority status of the child and the authority of the custodian over him were both temporary.

“Spiritual warfare” is an idea based on the Apostle Paul’s words to the Assembly in Ephesus - “ Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers… against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places .” So, how do believers wage war against these unseen forces of darkness?